Writing

Review: The Garden (2018)

Fresh out of film school Andy Espinoza Long writer/director of new Horror short THE GARDEN ushers a new kind of dread in this 7 minute short. Showcasing the dark side of Instagram, THE GARDEN is very much an updated take on the stalker sub-genre.

A young artist finds herself the object of admiration by a secret admirer. The film starts off light and airy with a young woman singing and playing her guitar about ‘a garden.’ as the film goes on we learn that the woman documents her every move by taking pictures of her whereabouts, posting them on Instagram for her followers to see what she has been up too. Let’s be honest here? Is that ever a good idea?

For a first attempt, THE GARDEN is not bad by any means. In fact, I enjoyed it. The pace was good, the acting good and the build in the atmosphere for the final reveal was very well done! Atmosphere in horror films of all kinds is imperative and Long executed that very well here.

The horror genre is versatile and that’s why I love it! There are so many ways to unnerve and frighten. THE GARDEN is not the typical in your face, jump scare horror and it’s for this fact why I commend director Andy Long for incorporating psychological horror elements into his short, my favorite type of horror!

I look forward to seeing more from this director! For more information follow him below on Twitter.